The Serpentine Gallery celebrates the work of Nancy Spero

A first major, posthumous retrospective celebrating American artist and activist Nancy Spero opened yesterday (3 March) and will remain on view until 2 May at Serpentine Gallery in London.

Spero, a key figure in New York's art scene in the 60s and 70s, was a life-long feminist and political activist which was a source of inspiration for her powerful works, often dealing with subjects such as pain, war, alienation and sexual violence against women.

'Her work is becoming more and more urgent with the political situations in the world, and she is admired by artists of various generations from Marlene Dumas to Kiki Smith to art students and teachers,' says Hans Ulrich Obrist, co-director of the Serpentine Gallery.

Every Saturday, the gallery will also host a series of free afternoon talks with art curators and historians starting tomorrow (5 March) with a seminar by Katy Deepwell, an art critic and the founder and editor of international feminist art journal n.paradoxa:.

Follow the link to Aesthetica Magazine's blog to read a memoir of Nancy Spero by fellow American feminist artist, Kiki Smith.